Chinese miners have managed to extract 'combustible ice' or 'flammable ice' from the seafloor of the South China Sea. This is China's first success in mining flammable ice at sea, after nearly two decades of research and exploration, the Minister of Land and Resources, Jiang Daming.
'Flammable Ice' is methane hydrates with molecules of methane gas trapped in a lattice of ice crystals. It can exist only in conditions of very low temperatures and high pressure.  The successful collection of the frozen fuel was found at a trial mining site in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea.
For many countries the US and Japan are working on how to tap those reserves, though mining and extracting are extremely difficult. According to China this is "a major breakthrough that may lead to a global energy revolution".
Approximately one cubic meter of "combustible ice" is equal to 164 cubic meters of regular natural gas and Combustible ice usually exists in seabed or tundra areas, which have the strong pressure and low temperature necessary for its stability.